


Pardon Me

by eso (cazzy)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 02:20:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7599685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cazzy/pseuds/eso
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wait,” Lance says, scrambling on the couch until he’s sitting up. “I do have questions about the derivatives, but I’m dying to hear more about this barista that swept you off your feet!”</p><p>“You already know everything,” Shiro sighs, moving to pack up his laptop and textbook. “He works at Castle of Lions and we’ve talked a grand total of three times.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pardon Me

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE ACCEPT THIS OFFERING, O SHATT GODS

“Look,” Lance says, sprawling out languidly over the library’s couch.  “I think you’re making this harder than it should be.”

“You do?” Shiro asks, and then immediately winces because responding so quickly didn’t come off as desperate, not at all.

“I think you’re insane if you believe _Lance_ has valuable relationship advice,” Keith mutters from beside him, nose buried in their course textbook.

Sometimes Shiro considers how much simpler his life would be if he had chosen a different career path, like accounting. Or maybe some sort of sports coaching. Or anything _but_ aerospace engineering, really.

Instead, he’s an indentured servant of Altea University as he works toward his doctorate, and picking up a job as a TA had seemed a worthwhile option when considering his crippling amount of student debt.

Although someone _really_ should have told him that TA work was basically babysitting.

Lance sputters indignantly at Keith’s insult. “I’ll have you know that I am _incredibly_ popular with the ladies, mullethead. I have a date with Nyma tomorrow night!”

Keith’s response sounds bored, although it is rather swift. “Hunk’s right. She’s just using you for your money.”

“I’m a college student, I don’t even _have_ money! Also, you’re wrong. She’s definitely into me!”

“Okay, clearly I’ve let this conversation get too off-topic,” Shiro says diplomatically, mostly because Lance has now thrown his arms in the air as if to challenge Keith to… _something._ “How are you guys handling this unit? The assignment is pretty easy if you can differentiate between stability and control derivatives.”

Keith turns his full attention to the conversation. “The differences are measured by flight condition parameters versus deflection in control surfaces, right?”

“Yeah,” Shiro encourages with a smile. He seems to have the concepts down, which is fantastic, although it doesn’t explain why he’s come to office hours. “The states for stability are things like angle of attack, airspeed, and altitude. Control derivatives are more about force changes due to something like the edge of an aircraft wing or a rudder.”

“I wonder if Dr. Haggar would be upset to know that you spend time on the clock talking about guys you have a crush on,” Lance muses while Keith shuffles through some of his notes.

Shiro shoots him a look. “ _You’re_ the ones who showed up for office hours without any actual questions about this week’s lecture. Time’s almost up, anyway, so…”

“Wait,” Lance says, scrambling on the couch until he’s sitting up. “I do have questions about the derivatives, but I’m _dying_ to hear more about this barista that swept you off your feet!”

“You already know everything,” Shiro sighs, moving to pack up his laptop and textbook. “He works at Castle of Lions and we’ve talked a grand total of three times.”

“ _And_ you think he’s hot as hell.”

He almost falls for the bait, almost says, _I did_ not _say that -_ even if it _is_ true -  but... it’s Lance. And engaging Lance like that is always a Bad Idea. “This is me, leaving now. See you at Monday’s lecture!”

Keith raises his eyebrows at Shiro’s hasty retreat, but whatever. He’s not about to let two of his undergrad students bully him into talking about this any longer, and it really _is_ time for his office hours to conclude.

 

* * *

 

The cafe is strategically located across the street from the university, and it really _does_ serve the best coffee in town. Shiro figures he’ll grab a quick cup of coffee before heading home, justifying the trip because he _deserves_ a treat after suffering through Lance’s endless prodding.

If the cute barista - whose name Shiro has yet to find out, because every time he sees the brunet employee he fails to notice anything but his features and the way his voice sounds - happens to be working, then _hell,_ he definitely deserves that, too.

The antics of Lance and Keith aren’t truly that awful, but they do remind him of back when he’d been gunning for his Bachelor’s. They just seem so bright-eyed and excited about engineering and college and everything that comes with figuring out a place in the world, and sometimes it makes him feel old. He’s older and more disillusioned now that he’s spent such a significant portion of his life in school, but hanging out with them and feigning constant exasperation makes him feel a bit younger, at least.

He _is_ going to stop taking the high ground in regards to Lance’s teasing, though. The student really has no idea how obviously he fawns over Keith most of the time, and if he keeps bringing up Incredibly-Attractive-Barista-Who-Totally-Has-A-Name-That-Shiro-Needs-To-Figure-Out, then maybe Shiro will bring up _Keith_ more often in conversation.

It’s always incredibly satisfying to see Lance so flustered, after all.

There’s only one employee manning the counter when Shiro walks in, and Lance’s teasing is fresh enough in his mind that he can’t help the flush that rises in his cheeks as he instantly recognizes who is currently working.

“Welcome to Castle of Lions! Be with you in a sec,” the barista says as he finishes preparing some kind of iced drink for another customer, which means that he’s been noticed and it’s too late to turn around and leave.

Shiro wishes he didn’t feel supremely awkward standing there and watching him, but it’s not like he has any other choice. Even his back is attractive, which is just ridiculous, although it doesn’t hold a candle to the handsome curve of his nose and the positively gorgeous color of his tawny eyes, and oh, _hell,_ the employee is looking oddly at him as he blatantly stares.

“Sorry,” Shiro mutters quickly. “Ah, I’ll have a medium iced coffee with a shot of espresso.”

“Coming right up,” the barista grins at him, grabbing a cup. “Name?”

“Shiro,” he says, and if he’s looking a bit too closely at the employee’s hands as he scrawls his own name over the plastic of the cup, then at least nobody else seems to notice.

They’ve only ever interacted like this - Shiro ordering a drink while the barista acts pleasant, because that’s in his job description, _idiot_ \- but today feels extra special, because their fingers brush against each other as Shiro takes his drink, and he looks up just long enough to read the _Matt_ printed neatly across his name badge.

And, yeah, Shiro absolutely deserved this.

 

* * *

 

Shiro (5:56 PM) His name is Matt

Lance (5:58 PM) And it only took you two weeks to figure it out! Where will you guys be in a year? Asking each other how your days went?

Shiro (6:01 PM) It’ll still be further than wherever you and Keith are.

Lance (6:02 PM) You motherfucker I can’t believe you went there

 

* * *

 

Dr. Haggar probably _would_ dislike it if she heard that Shiro spends a fair amount of leisure time with Lance outside of class, but really, they’re all in college and  responsible(ish) adults, and she can’t monitor every facet of his life, even if she is his doctoral advisor.

Besides, he hasn’t had much normal human interaction, what with planning his dissertation and working as a TA, and Lance is like a very, _very_ persistent leech when he makes friends. Keith, surprisingly, is similar, in that he somehow acquired Shiro’s phone number one day (maybe from Lance?) and texted him, _We’re friends now._

In any route, Lance has spent the past week pestering him into pointing Matt out, and somehow Shiro ends up on the sidewalk just outside Castle of Lions with one pushy aerospace engineering student.

“Wait,” Lance says, tugging on his arm just before they enter. Through the glass of the shop’s entrance, they can see Matt behind the counter, ringing up a customer. “ _That’s_ the guy?”

Shiro has no reason to be defensive over a guy he’s talked to only a handful of times, but still his lips tug into a frown at Lance’s words. “Yeah, is there a problem?”

“No problemo,” he responds, but he’s laughing,  and oh, no, that doesn’t bode well for Shiro. “I just had no idea _your_ Matt was _Pidge’s_ Matt.”

Wait, what? “Who’s Pidge?” Matt is taken? This is a disconcerting bit of news. Shiro tries not to think too hard about how pleasant _your Matt_ had sounded.

“Hunk’s roommate, she’s this crazy smart Comp-Sci major. Anyway, _not_ the point. Matt’s her brother.”

He tries not to outwardly display too much relief at the confirmation that Matt is not dating this Pidge person, but Lance seems to catch on anyway.

“Are you going to stare all day?” he teases, moving to open the door. “I need some caffeine.”

They get in line, and Shiro somehow manages to tolerate the not-so-subtle winks and bad innuendos that Lance keeps tossing at him the closer they get to the counter.

“Hey, thanks for coming to Castle of Lions! You had a medium iced coffee with an extra shot of espresso last time, right?”

Shiro freezes. Did Matt just… remember his order? That means he recognizes him, which means maybe there _is_ a chance that Matt’s interested in him?

He’s never been more thankful for Lance’s charisma, because the student swoops in and says, “Sorry about him, he’s had a rough day and I think you broke him at the mere _mention_ of coffee. That sounds great, can we get two?”

“Of course,” Matt says, recovering quickly from the shock of seeing a customer do their best impersonation of a marble statue. “That’ll be $8.19.”

Lance rams his elbow into Shiro’s side harshly - “Accident,” he says with an all-knowing grin - as he reaches for his wallet and offers the barista a bill.

As they move to sit down at an empty table, Lance chuckles, “Dude, you have it _bad._ ”

Shiro _thunks_ his head on the table. “I know.”

 

* * *

 

Things go like that for awhile. Shiro never manages to say anything other than his order to Matt when he goes to Castle of Lions, and Matt never offers him anything other than the mandatory politeness of a service industry employee.

He’s about to give it all up, honestly, maybe find another coffee place to get his regular caffeine fix, because this crush is getting absolutely _ridiculous._ Shiro slips out of Haggar’s office one day after a doctoral meeting, only to see an unmistakable mop of unruly brunet hair moving down the hallway.

It means a few _very_ significant things: Matt isn’t at work, and they both apparently go to the same university, even study _similar_ _subjects_ because this is the engineering wing of professor’s offices, and everything is _wonderful,_ because maybe he can chat him up in a non-awkward way with this veritable fountain of knowledge.

“Hey,” he says, jogging a bit to catch up because Matt’s about to round the corner to the elevators.

Matt doesn’t respond, though, so he calls out again, this time a little louder, and the brunet _finally_ turns around in response to Shiro’s greeting.

Except this person is definitely _not_ Matt.

“I am _so_ sorry,” Shiro blurts out immediately. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Oh, man,” the person - who must be Pidge, Shiro realizes belatedly - says with a grin. “You’re Shiro, aren’t you?”

There’s something vaguely ominous about the way Pidge says his name, and he offers an apologetic smile and a, “Yeah…?”

“Lance has not shut up for the past week about your crush on Matt,” she says so bluntly that he can’t help but like her instantly. “Which is _hilarious,_ because Matt has not shut up about _you_ for at least a month.”

_Wait, what?_

“Wait, what?” he asks, because he’s positive he misheard her.

Pidge clasps her hands together and raises them to her cheek in a parody of what must be a pining maiden. “ _‘Oh, Pidge, that handsome grad student came to the shop again! I almost spilled his drink all over myself and told him to drink it like that!’”_

Her voice rises to a falsetto that sounds nothing like Matt’s actual tone, but it still causes a startled laugh to burst out of his chest at the sheer ridiculousness of the words.

Shiro can see why Pidge gets along so well with Lance and Keith.

“I doubt he’s actually _said_ anything like that,” he says, finally, forcing himself to swallow down the butterflies that are suddenly threatening to fly past his stomach and out his throat.

“Maybe not _exactly,_ but I’m smart enough to read between the lines. Unlike you, who is apparently so dense that you can’t see he’s been waiting for you to give him your number for _ages._ ”

Exactly how many times today is Shiro going to be absolutely flabbergasted?

“Uh - what?” Ten years in college, and his vocabulary is reduced to guttural sounds and one-word questions. His bank account must be weeping.

“You know,” Pidge says slowly, though she’s still grinning - a bit maniacally, now that he gives it a closer look. “Lance made it sound like you were a lot more intelligent than you’re coming off, here.”

She’s obviously joking, but it manages to do the trick. He clears his throat. “Sorry, you just - caught me off-guard. I appreciate all of the inside intel, Pidge. You should come out with us all, sometime.”

Pidge gives him a thumbs up and another smile. “Sure thing!”

 

* * *

 

Shiro had a battle plan. Really, he did.

Pidge’s revelation that Matt might _actually_ be interested in him had him motivated enough to make a move the next time he went in for coffee. (Okay, he actually went in once already, fully prepared to ask Matt out, except Matt had done him the dishonor of _not actually working_ that day, and damn, maybe he should have asked Pidge for his schedule, or something.)

It takes a bit more self-convincing after that, and a few pep-talks from _Lance,_ of all people (who _definitely_ got scammed by Nyma about a week ago and is not the most reputable sources of comfort, at the moment) to actually make him step inside the coffee shop with his battle plan ready to be enacted, and all of his mental preparation leads him to this moment.

“Hey,” Matt says, a smile lighting up his features. “What can I get for you?”

“A medium iced mocha,” Shiro says, because it sounds good, and then: “Also, I was wondering when you get off your shift?”

Matt freezes in the middle of inputting his order into the cash register. His face reddens, and he asks, “Sorry, what?”

It sounds so genuinely confused that Shiro doesn’t know what to say, at first. The word vomit that ends up coming out is, “Your sister - Pidge - said maybe you’d be interested in going out on a date with me sometime, so I was wondering if you were off soon and wanted to do something?”

“ _What?”_ Matt says again, a bit too loudly.  “I never said anything like that!”

And, _oh_. That hurts a bit more than Shiro would care to admit, but he plasters a fake smile across his own features and somehow manages a light shrug. “Oh, well. It was worth a shot. Just the mocha, then.” He passes the barista his credit card and tries not to think too much on the sinking feeling in his stomach.

The brunet stares at Shiro’s card as though it’s some kind of alien specimen. It’s a little daunting, being on the other side of someone staring unendingly at something, and he shifts a bit uncomfortably.

His movement snaps Matt out of whatever daze he’d been in, and he grabs the credit card from Shiro’s hand before swiping it. “No, no, no,” he says quickly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like _that,_ I just meant that Pidge is a nosy little fuck who doesn’t know how to mind her own business. I’m off in an hour and would love to go somewhere with you.”

Through the renewed hope flaring up deep in his chest, Shiro is fairly confident that this is going to rank as one of the best moments of his life. Nevermind the moment he successfully defends his dissertation, or manages to land a job at NASA, because the incredible smile on Matt’s face as he prepares the drink is all Shiro really needs in his life.

Their fingers _definitely_ brush during this drink exchange, and even though Matt has to rush back over to the counter to take care of more customers, the smudged phone number and the smiley face on his plastic cup are more than enough inspiration to get him through the next hour.  



End file.
